


Chilled to the bone

by SaltywithSarcasm



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Bartering, Blood and Violence, Father Figures, Frank Is A Little Shit, Hurt/Comfort, Jeff subconsciously adopts Legion as his own kids, Legion is just a group of edgy teens in need of a parent figure, Survivor/killer relationship, Teenage Dorks, Trials, this is not a ship fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:53:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23351266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaltywithSarcasm/pseuds/SaltywithSarcasm
Summary: “I don’t understand why we just don’t beat the shit out of the killers they put in the trials with us.” David said, pulling away from the gen and whipping the grease from his hands off on his pants. “It’s four against one, now if we were against someone like the Trapper or the Doctor or whatever, yeah; We wouldn’t stand a chance but this is Legion. Just a bunch of snot nosed brats with knives.”
Relationships: F.J.S.J. | The Legion & Jeffrey "Jeff" Johansen
Comments: 21
Kudos: 103





	1. Chapter 1

The snowy resort chilled Jeff to the bone, rubbing his hands together to try and keep warm as he crept through the worn down shed. There was no sign of any of Frank’s group so he eases his way over to his second generator, fiddling with the mechanical parts while keeping a ear out for any movements in his surroundings. 

Jeff jumps when someone crunches up beside, jerking his head to the side to see David on the other side of the gen.

“Easy, man; It’s just me.” He tells him, getting to work right away.

“Sorry...” Jeff huffs, turning back to the gen as he jerks a part into place. “Still a bit jumpy, my last trial was with the pig...”

“Eh, I hate that sneaky bitch.” David utters under his breath, giving Jeff a side glance. “This whole going into trials and running for our lives is getting pretty old.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Jeff replies without much thought; They don’t get a choice here, it’s either run or be killed. “Unless there’s some magical way we can escape from this place, I don’t know what much we could do.”

“I don’t understand why we just don’t beat the shit out of the killers they put in the trials with us.” David said, pulling away from the gen and whipping the grease from his hands off on his pants. “It’s four against one, now if we were against someone like the Trapper or the Doctor or whatever, yeah; We wouldn’t stand a chance but this is Legion. Just a bunch of snot nosed brats with knives.”

“What are you saying, David?” Jeff asks, looking up to him with a raised brow. 

“I’m saying, why don’t we just hunt this killer down and teach them a thing or two?” David points out, crossing his arms. “I’ve already spoken to Ace and Quentin, we just need to know if you’re on board.”

“You want to hunt down the killer?” Jeff asks in disbelief, he knew the other man was a brawler but he doubts the entity would allow for something like that to happen. “What if we get killed?”

“Then we try again in another trial-look, aren’t you tired of this?” David asks, sounding like he was running out of patience.

“Of course I am-“

“Then come with me, we’ll find the others and wait for the killer to come to us.”

“We don’t even know which one we’re facing, it could be one of the girls.”

“Do you think I care?” David asks as Jeff gets to his feet. “Julie and Susie are just as innocent as the nurse or the huntress; It doesn’t matter who’s running around this place at the moment; once we see them, we attack.”

Jeff couldn’t but to frown, he didn’t like the idea of beating on a young girl...or on anyone else for that matter but David was right, maybe they should at least try to fight back or at least keep them from hunting them.

“We could just tie them up and work on the gens.” Jeff whispers, following close behind the other man. “David, are you listening?”

“Shh.” He tells him, glancing over his shoulders and crouches down when the sound of heartbeats grew in both of their ears. Jeff crouches down behind a mound of snow beside him and looks over at the lodge, they could both see the killer searching the area but couldn’t tell which one it was, had to be one of the boys. “Let’s find the other two before we make our move.”

Jeff glances back at the killer before continuing to follow the other, he didn’t like this plan at all but what could he do? If the other two weren’t working on the gens and was following David’s lead then he would be screwed if he didn’t follow along too. They find Ace still working on a gen with Quentin, both must have been waiting for them because they both stop when they see them coming. 

“So are we really going to do this?” Ace asks, sounding a bit unsure himself. “How are we supposed to jump the killer?”

“We’ll head to the lodge after he leaves to look somewhere else and wait, if we all charge him at once, we should be able to get his knife out of his hand and pin him.” David explains, glancing over to the lodge before turning back to them. “Then we make sure he’s not going to interfere with the rest of the trial.”

“I don’t know, David.” Quentin mutters, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Man up, Quentin; It’s either fight back or keep playing as this thing’s toy. I don’t know about you three but I’m sick and tired of playing the entity’s game.” David says aggressively. “I don’t need cowards right now, I need men and I say we take a stand and fight back.”

There’s no way this isn’t going to backfire on them, the entity isn’t just going to let survivors fight back against the killers in their trials. Jeff strokes his beard in thought as David rambled on about his plan; He wants them to hide and ambush either Frank or Joey, then what? David has already shown he wants to hurt them but regardless of the situation they’re in, Jeff just didn’t want to hurt anyone; It didn’t sit well with him but...they weren’t going to kill him so...he suppose it couldn’t hurt to try to subdue them.

He still didn’t like it, not in the slightest.

“He’s left, come on.” David tells them, slowly making his way over the the snowy building as the rest of them followed. Anxiously Jeff looks over the snowy scenery, hoping the killer didn’t spot them and rush back in a frenzy. “Two of you hide behind the counter and one of you on the gen.”

“What? Why?” Ace asks, raising a brow. 

“Because we need bait.” David explains, turning to Jeff. “If you mess up on the generator, it’ll lore him back here and then we’ll jump him.”

“And how are we supposed to keep him from killing us?”

“I’ve got zip ties, once we have him down, he won’t be getting back up.” David says. “Now get ready, we one get one chance at this.”

Ace and Quentin hide behind the counter as David motions for Jeff to get on the generator; He wants him to be bait. 

“Really?” Jeff asks, not amused by the decision but David motions for him to get to it so with a few choice words mutters under his breath, he does what he’s told. Crouching down to get to start working on it and watches David get behind the couch, his back to the wall so there’s no chance of being snuck up on.

Jeff turns attention back to the generator and starts working on it, feeling a rush of adrenaline as he gets it to start working; Is he supposed to purposely sabotage the gen now? He takes a deep breath and pulls on a gear, it zaps his hand and makes a loud noise, causing him to flinch back. 

Instantly he hears the heartbeat in his ears and doesn’t know what to do, he can’t run away so he tries to keep working on the generator but fear grips him as he stands up, ready to run if he has to.

Legion, or Frank comes through the door, knife in hand, coming straight for him and everything after that was a blur. 

One moment, he was inches away from being stabbed, the next, Frank is being pinned to the ground by the other three men. David stomps on the killer’s hand and kicks his knife away, pulling the zip ties from his pocket.

Legion struggles underneath their weight, kicking at David as he ties his feet together by the ankles before forcing the killer’s arms behind his back with some help from Ace.

“There, he’s tied up; Now lets get the rest of the generators up and running so we can just leave-“

“Didn’t I say I wanted to rough him up a bit?” David asks, cutting Jeff off with a hard stare before turning his attention back to the struggling killer on the floor. “You can work on the gens if you want but I’m going to teach this guy a lesson for messing with me.”

“But what’s the point?” Jeff asks, shaking his head. “We’ll escape and just be sent to another trial; There’s no reason-“

“No reason?” David snaps back, whipping his head around to look at him. “You think I have no reason? No reason at all to want to beat this little creep into a pulp right now? Did you not see him just try to stab you a second ago or did you lose your damn mind and forgot the situation that we’re in right now?”

“No, there’s just no reason to because it’s not going to do anything.” Jeff snaps back. “No point in wasting your energy when we’re just going to be thrown into another trial later on; unless you’re just going to fight every killer you run into and quite a few of them are bigger than you. No point in making our situation worse, David.” 

“Whatever, do whatever you want.” Jeff lets out a huff and walks away, wanting to work on gens and get this trial over with but he’s not going to be apart of this. 

Quentin hesitantly follows after him with a frown on his face.

“Is he really going to do it?” Quentin asks softly as they approached a gen. “Wouldn’t it, you know...piss off the thing that’s got us stuck here?” 

“I don’t know, which is why I’m not going to be apart of it. If that hothead wants to get himself screwed over then he’s welcomed to but leave me out of it.” Jeff huffs, seeing Ace wondering over to them with a uneasy look on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just...” Ace kneels down with them to start on the generator. “Legion is a kid, maybe around 17 or so...it’s fucked up, their whole group are kids and they’re out here doing this...”

“If you haven’t noticed, this whole place is messed up.” Jeff huffs, pulling away to look at Ace. “”And I think David has finally lost his marbles, he should just tie him up and leave him so we can leave, what the point of beating him?”

“I think it’s a personal thing, wasn’t he some sort of fighter?” Ace questions. “Probably his way to cope with a stressful situation.”

“What kind of coping mechanism is that?” Jeff asks, standing back up. “You both stay here, I’m not going to let him makes this a whole lot worse for us.”

“Jeff, I don’t know if you should-“ Jeff walks away before Quentin has a chance to finish his sentence, hurrying back to the lodge as quickly as his feet can carrying him and hears the sound of fists connecting to something solid.

“David!” Jeff snaps, rushing in the room and quickly runs over to pull the other man off the now battered teen. “Stop-“ 

David pulls back with blooded knuckles and jerks away from him with a angry look on his face.

“What did I tell you?!” He snaps, kicking Frank’s mask across the room and curls his hands up into fists. “If you don’t want to be apart of this, then you can just leave.”

“That’s what we’re trying to do but what you’re doing right now is messed up-“ A scream cuts him off in mid sentence and both of them glances quickly in the direction that it came from; It’s was Quentin. 

Jeff glances down at Frank, who’s face was bloody and swollen, breathing heavily as he gives out a chuckle. There’s only meant to be one killer durning a trial and since David went across the line that must only mean...

The other three of legion must be here now and Frank knew it, Jeff glares over to the other man; His aggression and stupid idea got them into this. Jeff wants to scream at him, tell him if he wanted to stop the killer, he should’ve just tied him up and left him be but now he’s done and screwed them all over because he figured the best way to handle the situation was bronze.

And now they had three additional killers to deal with in this trial and there’s no possible way they’re going to escape. 

Quentin ran inside the lodge, holding his waist as blood soaked his midsection and falls down a few feet away from them. 

“We were just attacked by Julie, the rest of legion is here, Ace is being chased by Joey and I have no idea where the other girl is.” He pants, trying to get to his feet but winces from the pain. “What are we going to do?”

“You’re going to die.” Franks chuckles from where he’s laying on the floor, turning his head towards them and smiles at them with bloody teeth, turning to David. “I’ll enjoy cutting you, asshole.”

David sneers at the teen and kicks his head, causing him to flinch on the floor and against his bindings. Jeff jerks him away and shoves him.

“You caused this, all this is your fault because we told you not to.” Jeff lectures him. Before David has a chance to say something back, Quentin shouts in pain and collapses in the floor as Julie rushes past him to take a swipe at them; Jeff avoids her attack as she cuts David across the chest. 

Julie pulls her knife back, ready to stab him again when David kicks her in the stomach hard enough to make her fall back on her rear, knife clattering across the floor. Jeff uses this as a opportunity to pull Quentin up off the floor and try to get away so he can heal him, then he sees Joey run up and attack David from behind, causing him to fall down as Julie got back up to her feet. 

They need to get out of here and quick, maybe find the hatch or something or else they’re not going to survive this trial. 

Julie picks up her knife again and kneels down beside Frank, cutting the zip ties around his ankles and wrists as she looks over his beaten face. 

“Can you stand?” She asks him, helping Frank sit up and he replies with a nod as he struggles to get to his feet. Jeff turns to flee but is met with Susie standing in their exit, wiping blood from her knife and grits his teeth. 

“Frankie, did these boys hurt you?” Susie asks, pointing at them with her blade. 

“Just this one.” He replies, walking over to where David was laying on the ground. Frank circles him to pick up his mask and then crouches down by his head, slipping his mask back on as Joey offers Frank his knife. Jeff watches as Frank runs his blade against David’s cheek, turning his head to the side. “The entity is going to be displeased with me.”

Frank lifts his knife and thrusts down into the back of David’s head, pulling back up before thrusting down again as the other two watched. Jeff watches in horror, clutching at Quentin’s side as their friend is killed in a brutal way.

Where’s Ace?

Frank pulls back, wiping the blood on his sleeve before getting back to his feet and turns to look at the other two survivors; Were they next for the man’s bloodlust? 

“Frank, do you want us handle the rest the of them?” Joey asks, patting the other one the shoulder as he motions to them. 

“I’ve already got the other one on the ground, just say the word.” Susie sways with her hands behind her back as Julie walks around the two survivors like a predator circling it’s prey. 

“I’m fine.” He waves them off, approaching Jeff and Quentin with knife in hand, looking them over before turning his back on them. “Where’s my knife?”

Joey looks around them and nods towards the couch so Frank tosses his back over to him, leaning down to grab his own.

“So...you all thought you could fight back, huh?” He asks, looking over to them. “That the entity wouldn’t take action the moment you all jumped me?”

“...I...” Jeff knew there wouldn’t be anything good from doing it, he had warned David multiple times but the other wouldn’t listen. “The rest of us weren’t for doing it, we told him it was a bad idea.”

“Am I supposed to be moved, huh? Because I’m pretty angry with you all right about now.” Frank says, coming closer as Jeff tries to shield Quentin with his own body between him and the killer. 

“The rest of us had no intention of hurting you-“

“But you willingly went along with his plan.” Frank points out, standing directly in front of him. Jeff feels his heart beating rapidly in his chest, sweating from how close the killer was and the situation that they were in. He didn’t know what to say to get them out of this, him and the other two should have fought back more against David’s plans but...

“I’m sorry...”

“Oh?? You’re sorry?” Frank says, like he’s taking aback by his words and found it amusing; chuckling under his breath. “You allowed your friend to beat me and now you’re sorry, Jeffy? What about you? Are you sorry too?”

Frank looks at Quentin before turning to his friends. 

“Drag the other one in here, I think we should have a little fun with these survivors.” Joey and Susie left, leaving Julie behind with Frank as the killer wonders back over to David’s dead body, turning the man’s head with his foot before kicking his face before pacing back and forth.

“You should sit down.” Julie says, approaching him with some concern in her voice. “You could have a concussion-“

“I’ll be back to normal once this trial is over.” Frank tells her, shaking his head. 

“At least let me check and see if you’re still bleeding.” She says, touching his shoulder, lifting her own mask and turns him around to face her. Julie lifts his mask with concern and brushes her thumb against his bruised cheek with a frown. “I don’t have anything to help you, I could go look in some of those chests to see if I can find a med kit.”

“They’re usually pretty good at healing each other without them, why not just ask them?” Frank mutters, turning his head towards him and Quentin. Julie glances at them out of the corner of his eyes. 

“Come here.” She demands of him, Jeff looks at Quentin before lowering him to the ground and slowly walks over to them. Frank sits on the couch and motions for him to take a seat as well so Jeff does as he’s told and faces the other guy as he removes his mask and pulls down his hood. 

Is really going to give first aid to a killer?

Jeff slowly reaches into his pocket for his first aid and pulls out some ointment and bandages, with shaky hands he reaches up with the ointment and applies to the cut along his eyebrow; David had really done a number on him. As he adds a bandage, he sees the cut slowly disappear as well as the bruising and swelling around his eye and moves on to the bruise forming on his cheek. 

Frank is watching him as he works, studying his face as Jeff adds some ointment on his busted lip. Most of the swelling is gone now and he can see the bruises going away but he’s not sure if his face is the only thing that’s hurting.

“Is...is there anywhere else you need me to look at?” Jeff asks cautiously but Frank shakes his head and really stares at him now, making the bigger man a little anxious as the killer narrows his eyes at him.

“Aren’t you the guy I paid to paint a mural on a wall for?” He asks, leaning back to look at the painting up on the second floor. 

“I...Uh..?” Jeff turns to look and sees the painting he’s referring to, he remembers doing that. “Yeah, I did that.”

Jeff nearly forgot about it but he had met Frank and his group before, it was a long time ago but why was he asking?

“I remember you, you used to work at video store back in Ormond.” Frank mutters, getting up as he pulls his hood back up and glances over to the other survivor laying on the ground. “I want to make a deal with you and I’m sure you’ll be happy to listen; If you paint a few more for us, I’ll let you and the other two survivors go since neither of you were the ones who attacked me.”

“What? You can’t be serious, Frank-“ Frank holds up his hand to stop Julie in mid-sentence.

“I’m only giving you this offer since we knew each other from before.” He mutters, sliding his mask back on. “But after this, don’t expect any offers like this again.”

“Uh, yeah...sure.” Jeff says, letting out a breath He’d been holding and nods just as Joey and Susie brought Ace in.

“Drop him on the floor and keep an eye on these two, me and Jeffy are going to put up some artwork.” Frank tells them, grabbing Jeff by the fabric of his coat and drags him over to bare wall. “Stay put and I’ll grab some paint.”

Was this really happening? Negotiating with the killer for their lives? 

Jeff tries to stop his hands from trembling so he could do what he’s asked, waiting as Frank dig through some of the junk they had here and pulls out a can of paint. The man jumps when the killer drops it down beside him and offers him a brush as well of some oddly familiar sketches.

These were his, some he drew ages ago before they ended up here...how did they have them?

“Get to painting.” Frank tells him, stepping back as Jeff looked over them before look at the killer; He has so many questions right now but instead gets to work. 

Quentin watches with confused amazement from where he’s laying on the floor, jumping when he feels someone sit down on his back and turns to see it’s Susie, holding a first aid kit. 

“Can’t have either of you dying on us right now, can we?” She says as Julie kneels down besides Ace to tend to his wounds; This is so abnormal and feels wrong but as she adds the bandages, his pain slowly begins to fade. 

“Won’t you all get in trouble with the entity for helping us?” Quentin asks nervously as she got off so he could sit up. 

“I think it’s enjoying the show, don’t you?” She chuckles, wrapping the bandages around his waist. “Now stop squirming or I’ll nick you again.”

Jeff sees Joey steps up behind Frank and whispers something to him as he crosses his arms, he focuses back on his painting and hears Frank tell the two girls to not heal Ace and Quentin all the way, just enough for them to be able to walk. 

Once he done painting, he steps back and looks back the killers, hoping they’re happy with it so they can work on the gens and leave. Frank is sitting on David’s dead body, twirling his knife while he was waiting and perks up once he notices he’s done. 

“Good as always.” He says, getting up on the body and walks over to him, looking the new mural over and turns to the members of his group. “What do you think? Should be let them go now?”

“Mm, I like to play with them more.” Susie says as Jeff feels his blood run cold, he wants to argue that, that wasn’t the deal but remains quiet. 

“Let the other two work on the generators, keep an eye on them; Me and Jeff here are going to have a talk.” Frank tells him, reaching up to wrap his arm around Jeff’s shoulder, making the man grow tense as the other two survivors are escorted out by Susie and Joey, Julie remained behind. “You don’t have to worry about me, Jule; Jeffrey here isn’t going to hurt me.”

Jeff shallows thickly as the girl eyes him before turning to leave with the others. He glances down at Frank, honestly too afraid to move as he pulls away to look at the other’s artwork again. 

“Why...do you have some of my old sketches?” Jeff managed to ask, glances down at the pages on the ground. 

“I thought they were pretty cool and snagged them while you were busy with a customer at the time; Surprised you didn’t even noticed.” Frank tells him up front and shrugs. “Somehow they came with us when we were brought here.”

“...” Jeff never noticed any of his drawings messing from his sketchbook before but then again, he never really check either. “I’m...glad you like them.”

“So is this going to be a new thing, attacking the killer, that is? Because I’m going to go ahead and warn you, that’s not a good idea; The entity won’t take too likely to that.”

“We told him it was a bad idea, me and the others weren’t for it.” Jeff flat out tells him, shoving his cold hands into his pockets. “He wouldn’t listen to us or reason.”

“At least some of you still have common sense but don’t get me wrong, the only reason why you and those other two are still alive is because none of you attacked me and that painting on the wall.” Frank points out with his knife. “If you had, I would have killed you all just like him.”

“You’re all so young...how did you all end up like this? You’re just kids.” Jeff absentmindedly asks, stroking his beard in thought. 

“It’s none of your business, old man.” Frank says defensively, his tone annoyed but not aggressive so Jeff decides to back off the question for now. 

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Jeff asks, figuring that was a much safer topic and turns to him, unable to read the other’s expression with his mask on. 

“How did you end up here?” Frank asks, turning to him. Jeff thinks for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. 

“Uh... the most I can remember is that I came back up to this old lodge and after that...I don’t really remember.” Jeff tells him. “What about you?”

“We...” He trails off and pauses for a moment to think. “Came back up here too and something lured us into the woods...after that, it was fuzzy.”

So killers are brought here against their wills too? That’s a interesting discovery but it seems like they get the better end of the deal. 

“You said the entity would unhappy with you, do you all get punished if you don’t meet it’s expectations?” Jeff knows it’s a touchy subject and it could cause him to have a knife in his back but he has to know what these killers motivations are. 

“The entity is a very terrifying being when it’s unhappy if it’s not pleased with how the trials went.” Frank says softly behind his masks, twirling his knife around his fingers; He stops playing with his knife to looks at Jeff, staring at him for a moment and looks away again. “You should go.”

Was he reconsidering his deal in case the entity would punish them?

Jeff doesn’t hesitate to get away and joins the others, finding them already on their last gen with the other killers surrounding them. He crouches down with the other two while listening the Julie and Joey talk between each other, apparently they didn’t really agree with this deal and was talking about easy would to just kill them all right now.

That doesn’t ease Jeff’s already wrecked nerves and tries to focus on just getting this done and get out of here, ready to an ear full from David back at the campfire. 

Frank comes up to them once the generator is finished, quiet and with his arms crossed against his chest...making Jeff wonder if maybe David punched him in the chest a few times and he was still hurting but instead of asking, he just gets to his feet with the other two as they hurried away towards the nearest exit gate. 

Jeff glances at the killer’s one last time before turning to follow his friends.

“This won’t happen again, don’t expect a easy escape the next time you’re here.” Frank warns him, leaning on Joey now for what Jeff has to guess as support; Maybe David broke a arm, he seems to be cradling that one an awful lot but why should he care? 

Frank will be fine the trial ends so the quicker he leaves, the quicker Frank will be fully healed again so Jeff turns to leave through the gate, not looking back until he finds himself back at the campfire.

Before he even has a chance to catch his breath, David is storming over to him and shoving him, causing some of the other survivors to jump in surprise. 

“You helped the killer? What the hell is wrong with you?!” He snaps in his face, shoving the man again. 

“I was trying to keep me and the others alive is what I was doing.” Jeff shoves him back with just the same amount of aggression. “Unlike you who wouldn’t listen to us and nearly killed us all because you couldn’t control that temper of yours.”

“I had him down, we could have taken all those brats down together if you and the others would have just stuck with me.” David argues, getting in his face. “But no, you had to fight me and ended up getting me killed!”

“You got your own dumbass killed, I told you there wouldn’t be anything good coming from what you did but you wouldn’t listen to me.”

“Guys, stop.” Bill snaps from where he’s sitting by a stump, flicking his cigarette. “Arguing isn’t going to solve anything, now sit both of your asses down.”

Jeff sits away from David, right beside Quentin and pats him on the shoulder to ask him how he’s doing.

“I’m fine.” He mutters, giving Jeff a side glance before a little smile spreads across his lips. “Thank you for protecting me, it was really cool of you for helping us escape...did you know those killers? You know, from before?”

“Yeah, they lived in the same town I did.” 

“And you’re the one who painted Legion on the wall for them?” Jeff nods and Quentin just looks at him with surprise. “Wow...I’m surprised they didn’t tear into you.”

“He likes my artwork, Frank does; I think he only kept me alive because he wanted me to paint for him more.” Jeff mutters, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe if I offer him more, he’ll go easy on me next time.”

“I don’t know about that, man.”

It was more of a joke but he does have him thinking, maybe he could offer his sketches as offerings; They did find a old sketchbook out in the fog and some charcoal pencils. 

Maybe he could do something with those, just leave his sketches up around the lodge for them to find. What did he have to lose?


	2. Chapter 2

Jeff spends his time at the campfire sketching most of the time now, drawing quite a few sketches of what he thought the entity looked like from what little he’s seen of the creature but mostly of Frank and his group of killers. 

Lately, neither him, Ace or Quentin has been taken to any trials but David has been taken to one right after another, not even the chance to catch his breath or look for offerings of his own; Mostly as a punishment from the entity for doing what he done and Jeff just didn’t feel sorry for him, he dug his own grave. 

He turns his head to see Kate sitting down beside him, brushing her hair over her shoulder. 

“Whatcha drawing?” She asks curiously so he turns his sketch for her to look, the redhead raises a brow. “That’s looks really good...Is it Susie?”

“Yeah.” He shrugs, flipping though his pages of drawings. “I figured I could draw some of the killers...and whatever the thing is that has us trapped here.”

“I’m not sure if that’s healthy, hun.” Kate looks concerned and sits back on the tree trunk. 

“I thought they would be good offerings.” Jeff replies, closing his sketchbook and sets it down beside him. “Since my art saved us durning my last trial.”

“I mean, that could be a idea but why killers?”

“I don’t know.” Jeff stretches, a little sore from sitting down for so long. “I know the Legion likes my art, I suppose I could leave some if I get taken there again.”

“Why?”

“I can’t explain it but I...” Jeff bites on his bottom lip and lets out a breath. “I knew them from before and they didn’t seem like bad kids, I don’t know how to explain but...”

“Jeff, they’re killers; We both know that.” She says softly. “You can’t help them.”

Was he trying to help them? 

Originally he was just trying to help himself by making the trials easier but he couldn’t ignore the concern and protectiveness he felt durning the last one, specially when Frank was hurt...

No, that couldn’t be it because why would he be worried about the people who are here to kill him, that wouldn’t make sense.

“I’m...not trying to help them.” He halfheartedly argues, unable to look her in the eyes. 

“Ace told us what happened, Jeff; How you have first aid to one of the killers-“

“I had to, what was I supposed do?” Jeff asks her defensively. “Refuse to and end up getting the rest of us killed? They were pissed, Kate; I had to do something.”

“I know, we just think you’re too...involved with this group; We’re worried.” 

“Like you and the clown?” Jeff points out, the woman didn’t have much room to talk; Specially with her relationship with Jeffrey Hawk. 

“That’s different-“

“You’re sleeping with a killer, I’m just concerned about Frank and his group.”

“I am not sleeping with him, we just talk.” Kate crosses her arms, giving him a disapproving look.

“It is...bad that I’m feeling...protective over them? After last time, I don’t know what came over me but I wanted to strangle David for what he did to Frank.” Jeff mutters in defeat, rubbing his eyes as he exhales and leans back against the log. “They’re all so young and it seems wrong that they here killing people, they’re just kids.”

“Kids with knifes and a bloodlust.” 

“Well Hawks isn’t much of a saint either.”

“Point taken but I’m just telling you to be careful, they might not have a soft spot for you like the clown has for me.” Kate pats his shoulder. “But I can’t tell you want to do and in the end, the worst that could happen, you’ll just be sacrificed again.”

“I’ll be careful, I promise.” He’s not brain damaged, he knows he’s got to be careful while approaching this but not too sure how. Joey and Julie is too risky at the moment but maybe he could talk to Frank or Susie, since he knows Frank a little bit more and Susie just seems more playful than bloody thirsty. “I think I’m going to head out into the fog and look for some offerings, want to come with?”

“Nah, I’m tired; Might take a nap or something but I’ll see you later.” Kate pats his shoulder and gets up, leaving Jeff alone with his sketches. Maybe he could find more pencils.

So he packs up all his stuff into a bag and gets up to head out, walking into the foggy woods in search of offerings. He wonders when he’ll be taken into another trial, it has been quite a while and he’s good on offerings; Jeff supposes he’s just looking for something to do while he waits. 

Jeff kicks the leaves underneath his boots, staring out into the tree for anything he could use when he spots a figure out in the distance and stops.

From where he’s standing, he could tell the other person is very small and their bright pink hair stands out in the dark; Only one person that comes to mind is one of Legion because all the other survivors were back at camp. 

It had to be Susie but what was she doing all the way out here alone? Was the rest of the group nearby? 

He crouches down to watch her, not sure if he should just turn around and head the other way but he couldn’t help but not like the idea of her being out here all alone. Sure, she was a killer but if she could be out here than so can any other killer and couldn’t help but to worry that someone else could hurt her like David had done Frank.

‘No, you’re being an idiot; Kate was right, there was no reason for you to worry about them.’

Jeff shakes his head and looks back up to her; She was making a flower crown, her hood was down and mask was off, completely vulnerable and being herself. She was still a young girl desperate everything else that’s going on right now and Jeff didn’t like that she was all alone.

Should he approach her? Would she try to kill him? If she did kill him, would he just be sent back to the campfire? Jeff didn’t know but he had to try, he supposes.

Slowly Jeff walks towards her, trying not to startle the girl and stops when she lifts her head. She looks surprised to see him there and slowly reaches beside her for something; Her knife. 

“It’s alright...I’m not here to hurt you.” Jeff says, holding his hands up defensively as she stares him down and gets to her feet. “I can go away if you want me to, I was...just wondering where the rest of your group was.”

“Frank told us to stay away from you.” Susie says, leaning down to pick up her mask. What?

“Stay away from me?” Jeff asks, he’s confused as to why Frank would tell them that; It’s not like he was the one who attacked him, he’s the one who healed his wounds so why would he be considered dangerous to the group? “Why would he tell you all to stay away?”

Susie doesn’t respond, just stares at him with her guard up; A knife grip tightly in one hand, her mask in the other. 

“Okay...I’ll leave but I’m going to leave you something, I’ll just put it on the ground and go, okay?” Jeff reaches into his bag for his sketchbook, flipping through the pages until he finds the one sketch of her and the others and tears it out before placing it on the ground. “I’ll go now.”

Jeff backs away from the sketch, feeling her eyes on him the entire time before turning around and sprinting away. He knew the others had said there were small chances of running into the killer’s out here in the fog but this was the first time he’s even run into one on his own, he didn’t like the idea of leaving her out here by herself but if that’s what she wanted then he had to in order to slowly gain their trust.

There was still the thing with Frank ordering them to avoid him, did he mean just outside the trials or all together? Would they avoid him in trials too? Could killers request to not have certain people in their trials? 

He had no idea but why? Why would they want to avoid him? He shown no reason to hurt them, even defended them. They have no reason to...unless that’s why they’re wanting to stay away from him because he shown them some sort of compassion.

Jeff stops running and looks over his shoulder, seeing her standing there with the sketch paper on her hand as she watches him. Maybe showing them small amounts of kindness at a time will earn him their trust but for now, he’s gotta take it slow.


	3. Chapter 3

The first trial Jeff is pulled into is the red forest and honestly, the Huntress gave him and the others a hell of a time durning it but they managed to get out with just a few scraps.

When he’s back at the campfire, Jeff plops down the log with a tired sigh and leans his head down into the palms of his hands. He’s exhausted, emotionally and physically; He wants nothing more than a hot shower and a long nap.

Jeff rubs his face tiredly and looks up when someone approaches him, it’s David and he looks annoyed. His arms are crossed and his brows are furrowed, standing over him with a not so pleased expression on his face.

“What?” Jeff asks, sitting up with his arms on his legs. 

“Why is it that I’m being sent to trial after trial while you’ve only been to one since our last trial together?” He asks, tapping his foot now.

“I dunno, man.” He replies with a shrug of his shoulders. “Don’t ask me-“

“Cut the bullshit, what did you do?”

“I guess I didn’t beat up a killer durning a trial.” Jeff points out, raising a brow. “Or did you forget that?”

“Piss off, Johansen.” David snaps, stomping away from him to the other side of the fire. Jeff just mutters under his breath pull out his sketchbook, starting a sketch of the Huntress when Feng Min sits down beside him.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” He replies back, starting of with drawing the head as he feels her staring at him.

“So I heard you’re getting close to Legion...” She stats. “How’s that working out for you?”

“Why do you wanna know?”

“Hmm...me and a certain killer have gotten close too.” That gets his attention and he turns to look at her, which killer could this small woman possibly have gotten close to? “...The Doctor.”

Oh. Holy shit, how did Feng Min manage to pull that off?

“The creepy doctor?”

“Yeah...he...well...durning a trial, I was the last survivor and he manage to knock me down.” She tells him, leaning forward to look at him as she continues. “But instead of hooking me, he sat me down in front of the hatch. He didn’t say anything, just stood there and waited for me to escape.”

“But didn’t let you just leave on your own?”

“I was the only one who survived and he sort of avoided me throughout the trial. There were plenty of times he could have caught me but didn’t?”

“So what you’re saying is you think he likes you?”

“I dunno, maybe?” Feng Min shrugs. “I ran into him again in the fog while gathering offerings, he gave me something that he had found and watched me while I scavenged for more.”

“Didn’t try to attack you or anything?”

“Nope.” Sounds like she has a similar situation as Kate and the clown. 

“He might like you or has a weird obsession with you.” Jeff comments. “But I’m not really sure, just be careful about it.”

“I will.” She smiles, kicking her feet. “Did you...happen to draw him?”

“The doctor?” Jeff asks, flipping through his sketching; He must have at some point but it wasn’t finished yet since he hasn’t seen the doctor recently and all he has for reference is his memory. “This is what I have so far.”

“Looks super good.” Feng Min comments, looking at the page.

“Do you...want it after it’s done?” He asks her, watching her face light up and nod.

“Only if you’re okay with parting from it.”

“I would have just tossed it into the fire as a offering; You should take it after I finish it.”

“Thank you!” 

Sometime after Jeff finds himself in another trial with the very killer he was speaking to Feng Min about; The Doctor.

He slowly makes his way through the halls of the hospital, keeping a eye out for a gen when he spots Ace digging through a chest. Ace jumps when he gets close and whips his head towards him, must have been expecting the killer but looks relieved when he sees it’s just him.

“Why so jumpy?” Jeff teases him as the other man picks up a tool box and gets back up to his feet. 

“Just my nerves, man.” Ace mutters but holds up his tool box; It was a pretty decent one. “But looks like it’s my lucky day.”

“Well let’s use that luck of yours and find a generator-“ Jeff stops in mid sentence when he feels sparks of electricity run up his legs and they both run before shockwaves crackled across the floor. Both men hide behind a stretcher and some boxes, seeing the Doctor farther down the hall. Jeff watches him closely, wanting him to turn this way so he could see what the front of his clothes looked like but blinks in surprise when he see Feng Min come out of a room to approach the killer.

“Is she fucking nuts?!” Ace whispers, moving to stand up but Jeff stops him. He turns back the other two as she say something to the killer and watching him turn his head as he looks down at her, lowering his weapon. “What is she doing?”

“I think...she just talking to him; She said back at the campfire that he seem to be fond of her.”

“A killer fond of a survivor? That’s ridiculous...” Ace’s sentence trails off when they both see the doctor raise his hand to pat her on top of the head tenderly. “Well if he’s just going to stand there with her then we should get the hell out of here to work on gens.”

“I...second that.” Jeff says, taking his eyes off the scene in front of them and they slowly make their way towards another hall before dashing off to find a generator.

Jeff’s mind is reeling, she wasn’t lying when she said the man liked her and despite her telling him this, he was still surprised to see a killer act kind to one of them. 

When they look around the corner, they find Claudette already working on a generator and both hop on to help her, getting it done fairly quick; Four more to go, hopefully Feng Min can’t keep the killer’s attention for that long.

Jeff stands up, wiping the grease off on his hand and follows the other two to find another when he hears the heartbeat. He stops to look over his shoulder, the other two don’t seem to have notice it; He doesn’t see the killer coming this way but he notices something fall on the ground...a scrap of paper. He slowly approaches it, knowing it wasn’t there before and seemed to just appear out of thin air.

He leans down to pick it up, flipping it over to see a scribbled drawing of himself, at least it sort of looked like him with the name Susie written at the bottom. 

Susie drew him a picture but how...how did it end up here at Léry's Memorial Institute? Did the entity bring to him? Whatever happened, he slips it into his pocket with a small smile and turns to run after the other two. 

They manage to escape without a single survivor being hooked.


	4. Chapter 4

Out in the foggy woods, Jeff digs through the junk pile as Nea sorts through their findings on the ground beside him. 

“Think Kate would like this ticket you found?” Nea teases, holding up the ticket in between her forefinger and middle finger. “So she can go see that ‘John Wayne Gacy’ wannabe of hers?”

“Just ask her when we get back.” He mutters, tossing a box at her and pauses when he spots a offering that would take him to the Mount Ormond Resort. He picks it up and glances at Nea, holding it up to her. “Is it alright if I take this one?”

Nea stares at it a bit before realizing what it was and raised her brows.

“Uh yeah...sure but you know those four aren’t going to see you as their father figure, right?” Nea says bluntly, packing all the offerings back into her bag. “Maybe with Susie or Julie, maybe even Joey but Frank...I don’t know.”

“I think I could have a chance.” Jeff replies without much thought before it’s dawns on him what he just said. He glances back at his friend and sees her staring back with a bewildered look on her face.

“You want to be a dad?” Nea asks, shrugging the bag over her shoulder. “But why now all of the sudden and why those four? Jeff, you realize this place won’t allow any sort of happiness. This won’t end well.”

“I just feel like I could...” He didn’t know what he could do for them, what was his end game? Was he hoping Legion would stop killing or what? Jeff stands back up and lets out a huge breath, the truth is he didn’t know how this would end and even if he got the Legion to see him as their father...how would the Entity react to a few of it’s killers refusing to kill a survivor? The thought of what it would do to them terrifies him, maybe he shouldn’t try to connect with these teen just to avoid them being punished by the creature holding them prisoner here? “I used to know them...before all of this, they seemed to be good kids, maybe a little juvenile but I didn’t think they would turn out like this.”

“So you feel like they’re your responsibility?” Nea asks, crossing her arms. “Jeff...buddy, listen; none of that moral shit matters here and if you’re feeling guilty because these kids you used to know turned out to be blood thirsty monster then you need to rethink your priorities because they are not your responsibility. They became killers here for a reason, the entity wouldn’t have brought them here if it didn’t sense something insidious inside them.”

“They’re just kids, Nea.” Jeff argues defensively.

“Listen to yourself; You’re defending killers, Jeff.” Nea tells him, sounding more concerned than angry. “We know you’ve been drawing stuff for them and tossing it in the fire, hoping it’ll be sent to them; Are you hoping you can bribe them into sparing you with a couple of drawings?”

“It’s not like that at all, I’m not trying to bribe for anything; I just...” He shakes his head in frustration. “They like my art, I just wanted to...I don’t know, give some to them but haven’t been at the resort since the incident with David.”

“Jeff...” Nea bites the inside of her cheek and takes a step closer to him. “You’re a really nice guy and I understand where you’re coming from, you want to help them or I don’t know, connect with them but...these kids...they will kill you without a second thought; You need to understand that.”

“Susie told me the other day that Frank told them to stay away from me.” Jeff tells her, sitting down on the junk pile as he stroked his beard. “We found each other out here while I was hunting for offerings, she...didn’t try to attack me or anything, just watched me cautiously.”

“Really?” Nea sits down besides him. 

“Then later, while we were in the trial with the doctor, I found this.” Jeff reaches into his pocket to pull out his wallet, opening it to pull out the sketch he found and shows it to her. “I think Susie drew this for me.”

Nea looks over the sketch and takes notice of the burnt edges.

“She used this as a offering?” She asks, touching the corner and turns to look at David. “Do you think she was trying to use this to bring you to the resort?”

“I don’t know.” 

“But why would Frank tell them to avoid you?” Nea asks, scratching her head underneath her beanie and they both look up when they hear a twig snap a few feet away from them.

“Because he’s dangerous.” They hear and stand up when they see someone step out from the trees...Legion.

“Joey?” Jeff asks, noticing the other was staring him down as well as keeping his distance. 

“You understand what you’re doing could possibly hurt Susie?” Joey asks through his mask. 

“How?” Jeff asks, not understanding why the other is so angry with him. “I’m not trying to hurt her-“

“If she outright refuses to kill you in a trial then the entity will be unpleased with her and do you know what happens when the entity is unhappy with a killer that doesn’t want to sacrifice a survivor?! It punishes them, no, it tortures them.” Joey pulls out his knife as he glares Jeff down. “So stay away from Susie or I’ll gut you myself.”

“I can’t avoid the resort if the entity brings me there.” Jeff tells him and suddenly Joey throws stuff at his feet; offerings to other realms. 

“Stay away from us.” Joey snaps at him. 

“The last thing I would want to do is hurt you all, I just-“

“You’re not our father so keep your nose out of our business.” Joey demands.

“Joey, Joey, Joey.” Frank says, stepping out from behind a tree and loops his arm around Joey’s shoulder; Out of fear, Nea clutches at Jeff’s jacket sleeve and hides behind him. “Is that anyway to treat our friend here?”

Joey glances at Frank, fingers tightly grasping at his knife.

“Frank, he-“

“I’m aware but I think we can come to a understanding here.” Frank says, pulling his arm away from his friend’s shoulder to face Jeff and Nea. “I’m touched, Jeff; I really am, never had I thought you would actually care about me and the others but you’ve forgotten we’ve got roles to place here in the entity’s realm.”

“I know...I-“

“And here I thought giving offerings to keep you away from the resort would work and everything would go back to normal but still Susie has found away around that to contact you.” Frank sighs though his mask and presses his hand against his head. “So...here’s the deal; I’ll do away...” He waves his hands to emphasize his point. “With this no contact rule but you have to play the game durning the trials; You run, we hunt; there will be no mercy, understand?”

“What?” Jeff asks, confused and by the way Joey is looking at Frank, he’s just as confused.

“I’m saying we’ll entertain you and your fatherly instincts but durning trials you won’t get any special treatments from us.” Frank shrugs, walking over to them and lifts his mask to look Jeff in the eye. “But...if you find Susie refusing to kill you, I want you to force her hand.”

“You want me to...have her kill me?” Jeff asks, processing everything he was just told and feels Nea tugging on his sleeve, wanting to leave. 

“Joey wasn’t lying about the entity torturing killers who don’t behave.” Frank tells him, his playful tone now serious. “The entity will hurt her if she doesn’t...”

“So if I go about trials normally and have Susie do what she’s supposed to do then...”

“Then outside the trials, we can hang, old man.” Frank smiles, playfully elbowing Jeff in the arm. “And show you how to come to our realm outside of trials.”

He thinks it over, feeling Nea still clutching tightly onto his jacket.

“Jeff-“

“...Alright.” Jeff agrees as Frank loops his arm around him and pulls him away from Nea. Nea steps away, watching with wide eyes as the killer walks Jeff over to Joey; Frank glances back at her.

“You can leave now, he’s on our time.” Frank says, brushing her off as Jeff looks back at her.

“I’ll see you back at the campfire.”


	5. Chapter 5

When they came out of the forest and through the thick fog, Jeff saw snow and further in the distance, he saw the resort. He had no clue he could just walk back here through the forest but supposes it would make sense considering everything here was connected in the entity’s realm. 

Frank and Joey walk on either side of him, with their hands in their pockets as the approach the gate of the Mount Ormond Resort. 

Julie is there to meet them and she didn’t look too please by the way she’s crossing her arms and tapping her foot. She has no mask on and the look on her face when he can clearly see it; She looks unamused. 

“You were supposed to go out and find offerings, what is this?” Julie asks, motioning towards Jeff. 

“Thought we pick up a little something along the way.” Frank says, shrugging as he wraps a arm around Jeff with a smile. “Don’t worry, Jules; We’ve talked and came to a agreement.”

“But he-“

“It’s fine, Frank knows what’s doing as long as Jeff keeps his end of the bargain.” Joey adds, giving Jeff a side glance and walks past her toward the building, leaving the three of them at the gate. Jeff awkwardly shifts back and forth on his feet as Julie looks back and forth between them before huffing and following Joey. 

“Maybe I should go, I don’t want to make things awkward between you all-“

“Nah, it’s fine; They’re just a little bitchy at the moment.” Frank laughs it off, motioning with his hand for him to follow. They went inside the resort and he sees the other two chilling on the couch while Susie was drawing on the floor; Jeff notices the small one perk up when she sees him come through the door.

“You guys brought Jeff?” Susie beams, sitting up and pulling her hood down as she turns to look at the man. “I thought... we weren’t supposed to talk to him?”

“We can chill with him.” Frank crouches down in front of her to meet her eyes. “But on the condition that when we’re in trials together, you’ve gotta treat him like any other survivors, no picking favorites.”

“But the Doctor picks favorites with that one girl.” Susie points out, crossing her arms. “He treats her like his girlfriend-“

“Yeah, yeah; That’s kind of different but he still does his job regardless.” Frank huffs, waves her words off with a roll of his eyes. “What I’m talking about is you still have to attack Jeff in a trial.”

“You think I won’t?” Susie asks with sass, raising a brow at the older teen and smacks her hbd against the floor. “Don’t think I’m soft just because I’m smaller than the rest of you.”

“You hesitate...all the freaking time, Susie; Even when you don’t even know them so I’m just making sure you don’t make the same mistake because you have a attachment to him.”

“Piss off, Frank.” Susie snaps, turning her attention away from him to return to drawing but the attitude just makes Frank chuckles as he stands back up and turns to Jeff again. 

“Girls, man; So emotional.” He jokes, patting the larger man on the shoulder as he walks over to plant himself on the couch. “So since we’ve got you here, what is it you wanna do?”

“Uh...”

“Wanna read us a bedtime story?” Frank mocks, popping open a bottle open with his knife and takes a drink, glancing at him from the corner of his eyes. “Tuck us in?”

“No-“

“We aren’t friends, Jeff.” Frank tells him, leaning forward on the couch. “What were you hoping to accomplish by doing this?”

“I’m not sure.” Jeff tells him honestly, sitting down beside him. “There’s not really anything I could change, I’m just as much as a puppet as you here. Predator vs prey, the entity holds the strings; what can I do?”

“Nothing, we play it’s game until he’s done with us.” Frank mutters against the bottle, he breathes in sharply through his nose and reaches up to rub the bridge of his nose. “We’re totally fucked; once this things done with us, it’ll just toss us aside like trash.”

“Just toys for the entity to play with.” Jeff mutters. Frank lets out a annoyed huff, laying his head on the back of the couch before turning it to look at him. 

“Which is why I’ve got to protect the others as long as I can.” Frank tell him, he sits up and turns to Jeff. “I’ll allow you to hang around with us but you’ve gotta follow our rules, you seem cool but step out of line once-.”

“I’m not going to-“

“Good.” Frank takes another swig, eyeing the older man and offers him a drink. “Because I won’t hesitate to kill you if any of the other’s get hurt because of you.”

“Getting any of you hurt is the last thing I would want.” Jeff firmly replies, getting frustrated at the other’s assumptions considering his intentions are the complete opposite. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Well, I guess you’re just shit out of luck considering where we are.” Frank huffs, bottle against his lips. “You’re the prey and that’s just how it is.”

“None of this should even be happening.” Jeff says mostly to himself, not sure if they’d ever find a way to escape from this place. He wants to go home, to see friends and family, even if his parents are still at each other’s throats, to go back to his shitty job; Anything would be better than this. “Fuck, how is this even possible? How did we even end up here? How does it choose? Why me? Lil’ Feng or Kate? Or even Bill, the man is a veteran, he doesn’t deserve this.”

“Why me or you? The entity doesn’t care about what we’ve done in our pasts, man.” Frank huffs, taking another drink. “It’s not about fairness if that’s what you’re thinking, if that were the case then the only one between me and my friends that would be here would be me.”

Jeff doesn’t fail to notice the taunting smirk on the teen’s face, watching him shrug as he sets the bottle down next to his foot.

“I suppose it would be all my fault, wouldn’t it?” Frank says, watching Susie color on the other side of the room. “Us being here; It was my idea to rob that store but enough about this, it really doesn’t matter if we deserve it or not.” 

With a sigh, Jeff takes a drink and lays his head back on the couch, missing his dog...man, he wonders if anyone even notices he’s missing?

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are appreciated!
> 
> SaltywithSarcasm.Tumblr.com


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